The Jaguar brand has unveiled its new dedicated design studio in Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK, bringing the entire design team into one purpose-built creative space for the first time in the marque’s 84-year history.
My brief was to document the Jaguar design studio for the international press launch. Corporate and commercial photography to include architecture, interiors and portraits. People working in the studio, clay modellers and car designers. Images to show the history of Jaguar with classic cars through to the modern day electric models.
Led by Jaguar Design Director, Julian Thomson, the new studio is one of the most advanced automotive design centers in the world, developed to enhance the creative design process through the use of advanced technologies. The ‘Heart Space’, a collaborative hub at the center of the new Jaguar Design Studio, will bring together the diverse and creative 280-member team as it designs future generations of Jaguar models. Surrounding the Heart Space are unique working environments for the Interior, Exterior and Color and Materials teams, plus Design Visualization and Design Technical disciplines.
Jaguar Design is made up of designers from across the globe and from a range of industry backgrounds, including fashion, watch-making, sports and gaming. Being drawn from such different spheres of design helps the team deliver its interpretation of Britishness using contemporary materials and processes. The floor area of the new Jaguar Design Studio measures over 39,000 sq ft (12,000 sqm) – double that of the total previous studio spaces based in Whitley.
The main studios are named Studio 3 and Studio 4, taking inspiration from the numbers of the Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-types of 1957 and 1956 respectively, as well as paying homage to studios 1 and 2 at Whitley, which was the home of Jaguar Design from 1985. The considered naming approach is continued in the meeting rooms, with half named after iconic Jaguar models and the other half taking their names from important people in Jaguar history, including founder Sir William Lyons, designer Geoff Lawson and the actor Steve McQueen.
